


Tanaka Saeko The Great

by lucifer_dogfish



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Best girl Saeko, Gen, Inarizaki, Karasuno, Other characters if you squint - Freeform, Shiratorizawa, Sibling Love, Supportive sister, supportive Saeko
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:20:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26176339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucifer_dogfish/pseuds/lucifer_dogfish
Summary: How Saeko loves her brother Ryuu so much and how she gains a bunch of little brothers whom she couldn't help but cheer on...and then some.- A Tanaka Saeko appreciation fic -Note (12/14/2020): Might edit at a later time! I read it again and gaaah, 'are u drunk?' hahaha
Relationships: Tanaka Ryuunosuke & Tanaka Saeko, Tanaka Saeko/Tsukishima Akiteru
Comments: 2
Kudos: 31





	1. Roots

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not sure if I'm doing a good job at writing summaries, but if you're reading this now, then it must have been fine haha!

**Tanaka Saeko (3)  
** _Onee-san_

“Saeko, take care of your _otouto_ , ne? Say hello.”

“Hi, Ryuunosuke.”

The little bugger was cute. Bald and wrinkly, but still cute.

**Tanaka Saeko (7)  
** _Elementary school student_

Ryuu and I have just returned from the park when we saw okaa-san alone in the living room. In hindsight, she always told us to go whenever otou-san came back from work at least once a week.

Her eyes were rimmed red, and _is that another bruise?_ With one final sniff, she engulfed us in her arms. “It’s alright, _we’re_ alright _._ ”

* * *

A week later, an aunt and uncle whom they’ve seen on several occasions moved in with them.

They were holding each other’s hand, still standing in the driveway as the car carrying their mother gets smaller and smaller. “Nee-san, where is mom going again?”

“She has to work far away, Ryuu. So she could take care of us.” Their mom explained their situation to Saeko a few days ago. Saeko was glad her mother got rid of their bastard (she’ll gladly pay the Y10 for the jar) of a father. She swore to herself she’d do her best for her mom and little brother.

_Unbeknownst to them, little Ryuunosuke was about to yell for his sis to play with him, but froze at the barely open door, his mom and sis were talking. The air was heavy, Ryuu found himself covering his mouth and opted to peek into the room and listen. He didn’t get them much, but he got the gist, he thinks. He often saw mom crying when she went out of his bed to pee at night, but every time he asked her, she brushed it off as due to a sad drama she just finished watching. The TV was turned off though._

Ryuu grips her hand harder.

“’m not gonna be like ‘im,” he mutters. Saeko doesn’t hear.

**Tanaka Saeko (10)  
** _Still in elementary. Darn it._

“Please tell your mother next time, Saeko-chan. She should be attending this, especially with how your brother has been behaving.”

“Yes, Sensei. Sorry again for the ruckus today. We’ll be taking our leave now.” Bowing her head, and Ryuu’s, they leave the office. It was the third time this month that she had to fetch him there.

They’ve been walking home for a while, both quiet. “Oi, Tanaka Ryuunosuke. What happened?” Saeko asked the kid who was trying his best not to cry.

“…”

Crouching to his height, she put her hand on his head. “You can tell me.”

“…They were bullying a classmate. So I stopped them.” Oh. This kid.

When he finally finished his tale ( _wha_ _t energy kids today have), I asked,_ “Then why do you look like you’re about to cry?”

“You’ll get angry at me, like those adults just did. But that kid--!”

“Why would I? My little brother is such a good boy. You must have been scared, ” I said as I pat his head.

Ryuu looks startled.

“And I’m not crying!!”

“Oh?”

“They said crying is for sissies.”

“What? Who said that? Men shouldn’t be ashamed to cry, what are their tears for then? Besides, I don’t see a sissy now, I only see my brave brother.”

Cue waterworks, Tanaka Saeko poorer by 50 yen, and Ryuu sniffling while eating melon pan _(they're the bestest--!! *cough cough*)._

Oh, and a reminder for Ryuu not to hit people next time.


	2. Fruitition

**Tanaka Saeko (20)  
** _University student_

Saeko was preparing dinner as usual, though a bit late as she was held up by a group meeting after classes. It was a good thing that her brother had club practice so she didn’t have to hurry too much. She had been doing this since their aunt and uncle moved back to the countryside on her last year in high school.

She thought Ryuu was acting weird when he cheerily greeted her when she came home then complimented her cooking that night. What really took the cake was that he offered to massage her shoulders when she got out of the bath. Ryuu hated doing that, not one for staying put in one place for long, but she would not look at a gift horse in the mouth, so she accepted.

“Out with it, Ryuu.

“Nee-san…”

Her brother must be crazy. Drive hours on the road to deliver two punks to practice in Tokyo? No way was she spending her precious day-off on that, she didn’t even know them. His convincing continued all night until she closed her bedroom door on his face, then picked right up in the morning. This punk even offered to put her shoes on her for her!

The last straw was when her brother, Tanaka Ryuunosuke, did a seiza and bowed his head to the floor, begging her to do this for him. The Tanaka siblings were stubborn, slightly prideful creatures. They had each other’s backs, but they always try to handle things themselves.

Huh, he must really like these kouhais. She had only seen Ryuu act like this once when he begged her to let him join the volleyball club even in high school.

_“Oi, hey there, failure boys.”_

* * *

_[ Spring Finals, Sendai Arena ]_

Saeko was getting the hang of the game, why had she only gone just now? She has been attending since the quarter-finals a while back and Shimada-san and Takinoue-san has been teaching her the basics.

This was it. Karasuno was up against Shiratorizawa, where Ushijima “All-Japan” Wakatoshi was. She knew her brother was amazing, her throat felt raw with all the cheering ( _see:_ screaming) she made, but this was just--!! Each rally made her heart almost jump out of her throat and Hitoka-chan was well on her way too.

She could see the past four sets really taking a toll on both teams, but Shiratorizawa was still in the lead at 12 points, while Karasuno was at 9. A timeout was just called. Surveying the stadium, faces were looking tense. The atmosphere was so heavy you could barely breathe. _Think, Saeko. What can you do now?!_ She knows her boys could do it, they’ve trained so hard..!

“C’mon, you guys! It’s times like this when cheering is most important!!,” Saeko yells. Like waking up from a dream, everyone on their side of the stadium began to chant at the top of their voices, heads held high.

_Go, go, Karasuno! Fight, fight, Karasuno!_

_Go, go, Karasuno! Fight, fight, Karasuno!_

Hinata stops at once. He hears them, and as if for the very first time, he feels the rush of finally getting to play volleyball with a team---his team. Them first years, his senpais, their managers, Coach and Sensei, and now their audience. _It’s not over yet. We haven’t lost yet!_

_Go, go, Karasuno! Fight, fight, Karasuno!_

Saeko was feeling her spirits lift. She hopes Karasuno does too.

_Go, go, Karasuno! Fight, fight, Karasuno!_

_Go, go, Karasuno! Fight, Fi---_

_The City of Trees, Sendai, lies below,_

_And when you look up, the magnificent Sendai Castle,  
Our school, our glorious Shiratorizawa Academy._

_Our glorious Shiratorizawa Academy._

.

.

The final whistle.

**白鳥沢学園 烏野高校**

**1 9 0 5 2 1**

First there was silence. Nobody moved. And them it hit them, the whistle jolting them out of that haze brought on by intense rally that was finally over just now.

They won. THEY WON!

Deafening screams were heard, everybody catapulting from their seats. Hitoka-chan was foaming at the mouth— _Saeko smoothly catches her._

“RYUUU!!,” she shouts. They did it.

.

.

That night, Tanaka Saeko, despite the adrenaline from Karasuno’s win, is kept awake by the bitter taste of the feeling of not being enough. As part of the audience, cheering was all they could do to support the team.

 _Krgh..!_ She barely restrained the tears of frustration that welled up when they were easily overpowered when Shiratorizawa sang their school anthem, with their damn drums, their cheering squad. Overlapping theirs. _Like they’ve already won_.

**Tanaka Saeko (21)  
** _University student, Part-time worker at Karasuno Kitchen_

“Good day, ma’am! Thank you for supporting our volleyball team by ordering our _Nice serve! Ramen_!”

“Yes, yes. For the youngin's!”

“Have you seen their matches? My little brother’s the handsome ace there, y’know! He’s so cool!!”

“Really, Saeko-chan? Well, if he’s your brother, he must be pretty lively (read: _hoodlum_ ) too.”

Saeko’s protests were diffused by the obaa-chan’s prodding of “ _you have more deliveries to make, go now, dearie, take care. I’ll watch Ryuu-chan on TV.”_

* * *

[5AM, 2nd day of Nationals]

_“You said right seven blocks ago!! I though you knew where we’re going?,” Yoshikawa bellows._

_Saeko replies,“I said left! If you would have just let me drive like I sai--,”_

_“NO!,” the Taiko Club protests._

* * *

Today was Karasuno’s second match in the Nationals, and it was against one of the top seeds of the competition—Inarizaki High.

It was understandable for teams new to the Orange Court would fumble a bit. But Karasuno seems like they were adjusting still. This old man thinks—– ** _DUN DUN DUN!!_** ––Damn band! _Might as well been a full orchestra they brought!_

* * *

The fact is: Inarizaki treats the whole stadium as the battlefield.

Cheers just enough for one of the nation’s best…

…music to play for points gained…

…asynchronous playing to boo for “scrub” plays…

…the pompous shit of sudden silence for the blonde Miya’s serves…

….and _just_ the right adjustments to _maybeee_ conduct the pace of the game.

It was downright disgusting, even for a _snake_ like Suguru.

Nasty punks.

* * *

“That’s some mighty impressive cheering the opponents are doing there. Better late than never!”

[ _Day 2 of Nationals - Karasuno v Inarizaki (Set 1, 4 - 7)_ ]

The Taiko Squad: Murder Crows at your service.

* * *

**BONUS 1**

**Tanaka Saeko ( _I’m not telling_ )  
** _Sister-in-law_

[ _The siblings’ first meeting since Ryuu’s engagement._ ]

**RYUUUUU!!** (つಥ▽ಥ)つ ⊂(ಥヮಥ⊂) **NEE-SAN!!!!**

* * *

**BONUS 2**

**Tsukishima Saeko ( _you still dare ask?)_  
** _ "Put a ring on it”  _

**Ryuu:** _Oya oya! Brother-in-law!! (_ _っ*´_ _∀_ _｀*)_ _っ_

 **Tsukki:** ┌( ಠ_ಠ)┘

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you've enjoyed this as much as I did.  
> (Saeko nee-san is the best!!)
> 
> Penny for your thoughts? (kidding, I'm broke)


End file.
